BLUES WON’T SEL REECE

CHELSEA have rejected a £20million offer from Crystal Palace for rookie right-back Reece James.

The Eagles have tried to o prise the teenager away to Selhurst Park as they look to reinvest the cash banked from the sale of Aaron Wan-bissaka.

Palace have turned to their London neighbours and were hoping that the staggering sum would be sufficient to land the 19-yearearold (right).

But the Blues, who are under operating under a transfer embargo pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, are unwilling to cash in on one of their best young talents.

If the ban is upheld, Chelsea will not be able to make a move in the mark market until next summer and the uncertainty surrounding th the outcome of that hearing means there is a block on James moving anywhere.

The highly-rated def defender is set to miss the start of the season with ankle ligament damage – and that may have thrown any potential transfer into doubt. But he sustained that last month playing for England Under-20s and is understood to be ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation.

Palace may have pushed it over the line with a chunk of the £50m they took from Manchester United for their own right-back Wan-bissaka.

But Chelsea have made it clear they do not want to do business while boss Frank Lampard weighs up his options.

And it now appears that James, who captained the Blues’ youth team to Under-18 glory, is set to stay put for the time being.

His stock rose last season on loan at Wigan, where his displays for the Championship club attracted a host of admirers.